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Todd Haley: “Chiefs Suck!”

Deadspin received a tip that Todd Haley signed an autograph for a fan with the inscription, “Chiefs Suck” on it.
Here’s a bit of the story from the reader.

I approached him giving him some story of how my fiancee’s dad has been a huge fan since he was Head Coach of his favorite football team, the Kansas City Chiefs. He said thanks, and then proceeded to sign the napkin with his name and the phrase; “Go Steelers!” “Chiefs Suck!” I thanked him numerous times and then asked if I could buy him a drink (he had a Bud Light in front of him). He said no thanks, but the woman he was with told me that I could buy her one. Having no idea who she was I said, “heck no” and walked away.

I was at a wedding reception near Upper St. Clair, PA (Fort Couch Rd.) on Saturday 9/7/13. The reception ended around 11pm and naturally a bunch of us wanted to keep drinking. Earlier in the evening, completely by chance, I found out that a few other friends of mine were at a wedding reception at the Crowne Plaza hotel, also in Upper St. Clair (Fort Couch Rd.). From the church that I was at, the hotel is no more than 1,000 feet away. Once the reception ended, I texted my buddy to tell him that we were going to come over and crash the reception that he was at. We arrived sometime after 11pm and immediately headed for the lobby where I located my buddy. We had a couple beers and then the reception he was at finally ended around midnight. Everyone then proceeded to the hotel bar that is outside near the pool.

Once there we headed for the bar and ordered some drinks. After a few minutes my friends and I noticed a man standing in the corner wearing a white hat and black long sleeve shirt. After a few seconds we realized that without a doubt it was Steelers Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley. Immediately hysteria ensued between all of us drunken sports fans. After a few minutes of scrambling around to find something for him to autograph I found a white bar napkin and headed towards him. I approached him giving him some story of how my fiancee's dad has been a huge fan since he was Head Coach of his favorite football team, the Kansas City Chiefs. He said thanks, and then proceeded to sign the napkin with his name and the phrase; "Go Steelers!" "Chiefs Suck!" I thanked him numerous times and then asked if I could buy him a drink (he had a Bud Light in front of him). He said no thanks, but the woman he was with told me that I could buy her one. Having no idea who she was I said, "heck no" and walked away. By this time it was around 12:30am.

Finally, a buddy of mine that we had been calling for over an hour made his way down to the bar and instantly saw Haley. Being completely hammered he started yelling things at Haley, such as, "Roethlisberger isn't going to like this" and "Hey, Haley, what plays are you calling tomorrow?" After about 10-15 minutes of this Haley was officially annoyed. He proceeded to approach my friends and I to give us some speech about how he just moved his entire family to Pittsburgh and how he just wants to coach and then asked my friend, and I quote; "Why do you have to be so gay?" We all instantly erupted seeing as how Haley stuck it to our buddy and we clapped in excitement and astonishment that Todd Haley just gave our buddy the business. Needless to say, this remark didn't sit to well with my friend. He proceeded to continue going at Haley and getting pissed. Haley was made aware and realizing that he pissed my buddy off, rather than apologizing he decided it would be better to try and have all of us removed and asked for security to get us out of there. That's all I had to hear as myself and 5 other people knew to get the heck out of there. I left the pool bar about 1:15am and as I left, I glanced back at Haley as he sat at the bar drinking Bud Lights.

I have attached a photo that I snuck of Haley at the bar.

__________________________________________________ ____

First of all, notice the date? 9/7/2013, which is is exactly the day BEFORE our home opener.

Now (As Mike Tomlin would say), questions:

1. Why is Todd Haley drinking in a bar, some "rumors" say he was there until at least 2:30 AM, the morning before our home opener when we play at 1 PM?

2. Why is Todd Haley even at a bar, and not with the team, at the downtown Pittsburgh hotel they stay at the night before home games?

3. The answer to #2 is, I was told by a team source that he's not subject to have to stay at the hotel with the team. The source also told me he's not sure, if that rule applies to just Haley, or all assistant coaches for home games.

4. If the team has to report at Heinz Field, say, at 9 AM for a 1 PM start? And if Haley was in the bar until at least 2:30 AM when he walked out the door, that gives him a mere 6 1/2 hours to leave the bar, go in his room (rumors are he's staying at the hotel where the bar is), wind down, sleep, get up, shower, go to the stadium. Is that enough time to be fully functional on game day and be clear of mind?

5. How many other times has Haley stayed up drinking beer before 1 PM home games?

6. Does Haley have a problem with booze? It could certainly explain his bizarre behavior while in Kansas City complete with paranoia that his phone and office were bugged, no?

7. Will the NFL come down on him for using a homophobic slur? Will the media jump on him like they did Riley Cooper?

8. The local media has apparently known about this all week, did the Steelers tell them to keep it quiet?

This is just another reason why this jackass shouldn't be here. He had to be in the bag (or at least hung over) to explain that ridiculous play-calling last week.

The fact that the offensive coordinator is at a bar at 1 AM the night before the opener is very concerning. If the Steelers try to sweep this under the rug and don't do anything about it, something is very wrong with the organization.